Customer Ratings & Reviews

Purchased this for my daughter & her family for Christmas. They absolutely love the nugget sized ice cubes that are made in this machine. Thus far, it is great! Would have given it 5 stars except for the ridiculous price.

This is my third machine. I absolutely love it when it works but is breaks frequently. It seems that every time I have ever cleaned it it breaks and is unable to be fixed shortly after that.

Can be very noisy, but found 2 tricks to avoid the noise. Make sure water never gets empty, only have it on for an hour or so, you can program it to come back on in an hour or so, this limits the defrost and fan usage. Otherwise it makes ice very fast.

I don’t know what we would do without this ice maker. It works great, stays clean, and has all the bells and whistles necessary. Used everyday! Worth the money compared to any other ice maker.

This was a gift. My daughter’s family loves it. Quickly makes ice. Just the right size. Fits nicely under the cabinets. Just in time for summer!

This is our second one they make the best ice and we always have plenty even when we have all the family over for dinner and drinks. Easy to care for easy to clean where we live the hard water will damage the ice maker. We use bottled distilled water and have no problems. The wifi is really useless but it’s fun to show people

Let's start by saying the ice is great. This will save you all the trips to Sonic/CFA if you're an ice addict like me. Unfortunately, the longevity of these is questionable at best. I bought this unit last year to replace the OG Opal I bought from FirstBuild back in 2015. That unit lasted until 2020 when the pump went out. I replaced that and it chugged along until 2021 when the compressor quit. The cost of the compressor was almost $400 so I decided to just buy a new ice maker instead. The first replacement was so loud out of the box that I took it back to exchange it 3 days later. You could literally hear the thing running from another floor and the other side of the house. This unit ran flawlessly until this week - exactly one week from it being a year old. I routinely cleaned it as recommended by GE. I use only distilled water in the unit. The quality of these seems to have drastically reduced since GE took over. Look, we have that famous name-brand fridge everyone has the defective ice maker so this IS our ice. To say that we're disappointed that this thing failed less than a year after purchasing it is an understatement. Hopefully GE's warranty comes through and repairs (replaces?) this unit but in the meantime, I'm currently looking at spending $$$$ on a new fridge with a working icemaker. $600+ for a standalone icemaker breaking in less than a year is unacceptable.

The ice this makes is worth the hype! Be sure to research cleaning the machine. At times, there is an algae that develops, signaling a deep cleaning is due.

As absurd as this next statement may sound I now understand what people mean when they speak about the "good ice". I won't bore you with all the detailed specs as you could read them on this page or on GE's website but as far as ease of use and speed of ice production, I give this an 11 out of 10 it is something I didn't know I needed so badly that now my family cannot live without.... I haven't quite figured out the best way to display it yet as I really didn't want it to be just sitting on my countertop, although it is aesthetically pleasing enough that if you have no other choice, it's not going to detract from your kitchen/bar area especially compared to other similar ice machine units from other manufacturers, this GE opal, especially in the black stainless steel color really knocks it out of the park and is the best looking unit. The only complaint I would have to give even though as far as I understand this is an issue with all home icemakers is the cleaning process. I literally dread this process and where I live in South Jersey we have it pretty easy water wise as I don't have to de-scale it at all, as there is no hard water build up in machine almost 6 months in. One thing I did notice is that even after just a couple days of use after cleaning it if you feel the bottom of the holding tank (i'm not talking about the extra side tank I'm talking about just the main holding tank under the ice tray) it feels a little too slimy for my comfortability, and I even rigged up the machine so that it runs off of my reverse osmosis system that is re-mineralized (as the reverse osmosis process removes even the healthy minerals) so as an added piece of mind, I purchased the extra filter you can get for like $18 on Amazon that goes in the bottom of that holding tank instead of that little stupid good for nothing square screen and since then I've been able to get away with about 3 to 4 weeks before I have to do a complete clean, which involves completely filling the main holding tank and draining it 3 to 4 times while running a cleaning cycle the first of which includes a teaspoon of just regular bleach. The whole process takes about 30 to 40 minutes and it is not really that bad it's just more of an annoyance, but I'll deal with that small annoyance for the availability of great tasting fresh ice whenever I want it. I find myself drinking than usual and I do not regret this purchase one bit. also, I should mention that this is my second unit as the first unit I purchased broke about five months in and replaced it. No problem after I allowed them to put a $400 hold on my credit card to ensure that I sent back my old malfunctioning unit but since then it has been smooth sailing. Best of luck and congratulations to anybody who purchased it and welcome to the world of the "good ice" hahaha

This is a good little ice machine. Makes the fun nugget ice that we all love, but it is noisy, and can be difficult to setup and clean.

This machine started producing ice 10 minutes after set up. Love the side tank so that we always have plenty of ice. If you love Chick Fil A ice, this is the machine for you!

Easy to set-up, fantastic ice. Purchased this as a less expensive alternative to a built in ice-maker, as it's the only one that doesnt require a drain, and recirculates the melted water instead.

Pros - Makes ice as fast as our family of 4 can use it. The side tank is the best, as you don't have to remove the ice bin to refill the water. The SmartHQ app works well and great for scheduling on/off to give it a break overnight. Fantastic design, it's beautiful. It even fits on my counter neatly. Cons - Descaling regularity is awful. Every 7-10 days, you have to buy 2 quarts of vinegar and spend 18 hours descaling it. For those 18 hours, you have zero ice. If you can get one for $300, it's probably worth it compared to the price of others.

We've owned this a month today and we are really happy with it. I read in the reviews that it makes noise and yes, because it's making ice. It's very minimal and not bad at all. If you have the TV on, you won't even notice it. It makes great nugget ice like Sonic. I don't have anything negative to say about it.

The ice is fantastic and it’s easy to use. Only negative is the worry about mold buildup but ive been keeping up with the cleanings so far and no problems.

Love this ice maker. Everyone 8n the family that uses it has always said good things about it. They call it the good ice!

Great ice maker. A bit pricey but makes the good ice for drinks. Not as loud as some point out but designed for use in kitchen or bar area. Set up is pretty straight forward and once it’s up an running, just need to keep adding water to have continuous ice making.

Ice is very good. Do not buy it without the tank on the side. You will be constantly filling that reservoir if you don’t have it. It can get quite loud, even with adequate room for ventilation, so be aware of that

I had an Opal last nearly 4 years and I loved it. The maintenance routine will tell you whether or not this product is for you as you have to do continual maintenance on it. Each cleaning cycle takes time, so I watch sports and run the next cycle during commercials; That way I’m not just standing there watching paint dry. *** Update: After 3 weeks of use, it started making a funny noise that was so loud you couldn’t talk over it; I was disappointed because I bought mine as an open box, and returning it would mean I would be forced to pay more. I took it back and got a replacement. I unpacked, and cleaned my replacement so I could start making ice. I ran the cleaning cycle 1-2 times more than they recommend just to ensure I’d get clean, tasty ice, However, that didn’t happen. The ice has a funky taste to it.,. I use bottled water or water from a Zero water device to make ice, as well as clean my Opal for taste, to potentially reduce the build up of scale. Additionally, I looked at the Bluetooth devices under settings, but the Opal isn’t listed. I gave the app a try too, but it took forever, and still couldn’t find the Opal. I have no choice but to return it for a 3rd attempt. The Opal is a fairly new product, and new procedures, and maintenance requirements change mean you’re always playing catch up instead of making ice. When I contacted First Build about my original ice maker, they asked if I had taken the additional steps that weren’t mentioned in the instructions! Another time they asked me if I had poured white vinegar on a paper towel and let it side for 15 hours+ to break up the scale on the shoot. Back when Jawbone released a new Up, I had 5-6 defective ones before I got a working one. Best Buy noted the pattern of high return rates and flagged my account so I couldn’t return anything for a year. I was an Elite Plus member, and sent them a letter acknowledging the high return rate, and pointed out how much money I had spent there that year. If Best Buy purchases and sells defective products, that isn’t my fault. After a week or so, they lifted the restriction they placed on my account. At one point Best Buy asked me if I’d like to participate in their Tech Insiders Network, but I never got a response. I reached out to them and they said it was delayed a week or two, and would get back to me. They never did. I kept asking for updates, and eventually they stopped responding. I like Best Buy, and I want them to succceed. These are really simple problems that could be easily solved or avoided altogether. I have extended warranties on everything I buy from BB, and I’m also a member of their total tech support program. I’m practically walking distance to my BB. However, if I keep having problems like these, I’ll switch to Amazon. The extended warranties are cheaper at Amazon, but you have to wait vs going to Best Buy and coming home with a replacement. Note- My survey responses are based on the two broken Opals I had to return. If I had one that worked as well as my first one, I’d give it all 4-5 stars.

Purchased this about 3 weeks ago and so happy we did! Makes great ice and easy on the teeth. Would definitely recommend!